Nothing beats visiting your local care home to get a true reflection about what life is like – and what great care can look like. Care Home Open Day 2014 was a tremendous occasion for homes across the country to make those connections with local communities and show off the terrific work, excellent management and open cultures that we expect to see organisations providing day in, day out. Along with more than 250 CQC inspectors and staff who were out and about supporting the day, I had a ball visiting three different homes, joining in some really fun activities, speaking to as many people as I could and learning about some lovely life stories. I’d like to thank everyone – residents, relatives, staff and providers – who did their bit to make last year’s Care Home Open Day such a success. I hope that 2015 will be even better.
Andrea Sutcliffe
Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, The Care Quality Commission